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Loner rode along, in a daze, watching her horse's head bob up and down in front of her. He was a nice little horse. She absently reached down and patted his neck, to which he responded with a happy snort.

Loner glanced over at Thantor. Why had he asked her to come? She hadn't done much of anything. Seemed kind of redundant for her to be there.

She sighed, and looked off to the east. She wondered how Nippy was faring with his vision quest, and if he would return to them soon. Sometimes she missed the lush dark landscape of Kara-Tur, missed going out to the temple porch early in the morning and breathing in the pure air...She thought about Lomoro. It seemed of late as though she would be of some use in Kara-Tur, perhaps assist in training other students. She was skilled enough now to be a master's assistant. Perhaps I will take Kramor there one day, she thought. She smiled and laughed softly to herself, thinking about that night in the ruins.

She sighed again, and gazed off in the direction of the Keep, hoping they would arrive soon.

[ 07-15-2001: Message edited by: loner72 ]

The group rode on in an uncomfortable silence, everyone consumed with their own thoughts. T’lainya was aware of the elvish archers hidden deep within the covering of trees. She knew they would inform Menadir that all was well. She listened to the steady beat of the horses’ hooves and the creaking of the leather harnesses. The smell of the blood that covered the man behind her was strong, tempting her to conjure up a breeze. She sighed and decided it would be a waste of power and would only serve to make the others even more uncomfortable. Wondering how Menadir had talked her into this, and exactly how he had gained permission from the Seldarine. That was not her concern though, the vision had been unusually clear.

That reminded her of another painful fact. She could feel the drow magic emanating from Darkpoets tattoo, pricking at her awareness like a thousand small needles. The protection spell she had cast dampened the aura, but not enough to stifle her awareness. She began to think about how the others could help her destroy the demon.

The small band moved at moderate pace, perhaps because everyone was eager to return to the keep. It was a warm night and the noises of the night insects were like a tapestry around them. Coming out to the trees into an open meadow, T'lainya and Darkpoet where in front, followed by Georgi and Thantor, and then Loner in the rear. Half way across the meadow, everything was suddenly thrown into high relief as multiple Dimension Doors opened all around them. Wyverns shot from the two immediately in front of them, catching T'lainya and Darkpoet off-guard and knocking them from their horse. Georgi wheeled her horse, while Thantor ducked, then brought his horse up short to cover T'lainya and Darkpoet. By the time the wyverns reached Loner, the Katana of Doom was already in her hands and cleaving one of them in two. Skeleton warriors and mummies began to pour out of the remaining Dimension Doors. A healthy number emerged before the doors closed. Thantor could see Darkpoet was already a blur, cutting down anything in his path. He began working his way over toward Loner, who had been swarmed by skeleton warriors. Crushing a skull with one of his maces, he caught a flash to his right. A new Dimension Door opened directly behind Georgi, who had just decapitated a mummy, kicking its festering body away from her. Two heavily armed orcs emerged and were about to grab her from behind. "Georgi, DUCK!" Thantor yelled. As Georgi dropped to a crouch, Thantor sprang over her, taking the orcs high in chest with outstretched arms. His momentum took the three of them back through the Dimension Door. Before Georgi could react, the door closed, and Thantor was gone.

[ 07-15-2001: Message edited by: thantor3 ]

Georgi watched as Thantor disappeared, but there was nothing she could do, and there were more immediate problems... With a bloodcurdling battle cry, she charged, flametongue blazing, at the first skeleton warrior which had the misfortune to come into her sight.

Loner shook her head. "My," she said, "people come and go so quickly here."

She mechanically dispatched more monsters, and stifled a yawn. What was wrong with her? She usually thrived on combat. And her master had just been carried off gods-knew-where. Still, she couldn't help but feel kind of indifferent about everything...

[ 07-15-2001: Message edited by: loner72 ]

T’lainya regained her feet, the flail appearing quickly in her hand. She swung the weapon in a short arc, cracking the skull of another wyvern like a walnut. Seeing a small group of mummies clustered together, T’lainya said a small prayer. The spell called a huge pillar of fire down into the middle of the shambling undead. The flame strike did its job, the mystic fire charring the undead flesh into ashes. T’lainya felt movement behind her and brought the flail up to parry the skeleton warriors blow. A metallic flash and the creature fell into a pile of crushed bones, courtesy of Loners katana. Nodding her thanks, T’lainya repaid the favor with a blow that removed the spine from another skeleton. She barely saw the dimension door close and Thantors disappearance. Watching Georgis reaction, and the trail of destruction she was leaving, T’lainya began the litany that would turn the remaining undead. She wondered if Loner was usually that detached from combat.

Loner began to laugh her deep hearty laugh when she saw the undead blowing up sky-high. She had seen this before, but it never failed to amuse her. The foul creatures were scattering helter-skelter, running away; she pursued the ones she could catch and destroyed them.

jennabard looked at the ashes of the dead that scattered around her friends. she notcie a new person among them, an elf, who seem to be watching darkpoet very carfully. her eyes turn to darkpoet and saw someone who carries a heavy burden within him.

"i was worried what took so long?"

georgi replied," shouldn't you be in bed, you still look like a ghost."

jenna got rid of her gothic outfit, but still kept her close dark and somber, gone was the black lipstick and nail polish, but her skin is still very pale from exhaustion.

jenna smiled,"i'm alright." she looks at darkpoet," you have forgotten the promise, dark. you should have known that we will follow you and bring you home. remember the gift?"

darkpoet looked confused for a moment and then he remembered the red ribbon on his left wrist.

Ooc: Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! If someone has to be possessed, after we kick that think out of Darkpoet, I nominate Viv. I have this picture of it rejecting her as a host body Which would weaken it, I'm sure, so it's all for the greater good

IC:
Viv stood next to Dragonwench, her eyes caressing the outline of the ring, waiting for Gwalchmai's answer. He seemed absorbed by his study, and she knew that once he got to thinking, it could take all day.

"We could go to the hottub while figuring this out?" She asked Dragonwench with a small smile.

"What?" Gwalchmai said, his ears pricking at the mention of the hot tub, "I'm sorry. I was absorbed in my study." He turned the ring in his hand, tempted to slip it onto a finger. "You were asking about the Ring of Sorrows. I don't know everything about it, I'm sure Jenna could tell us more. I do know, though, that it is cursed to anyone who does not have evil in their heart. Also, some of the runes I've been able to translate seem to indicate that the ring allows the wearer to cast a powerful spell that is a cross between Doom and Hopelessness. But my main concern is that this appears to be one of a series of artifacts that can be made to work together, with unpredictable and devastating results."

"What other artifacts would work with this?" Vivien asked, always interested in the minutia of arcanum.

"Well, I don't know all of them, but the members of my own druid grove have been tasked with the safe-keeping of one. A crown that...." Gwalchmai's eye was suddenly drawn to the window, where he saw the night sky glow with the familiar signs of a Flame Strike in the distance. "What is going on out there?"

It seemed like only an instant later, and the trio were riding hard toward the clearing where they had seen the lights of battle. Gwalchmai rode his horse hard, outpacing even Dragon Wench. As she struggled to catch up, she called, “When did you learn to ride?”

He smiled grimly, “Urgency dictates a firmer hand in this case. I usually prefer to respect the horse’s wishes more.”

As they broke out of the trees into the clearing, they saw that Jenna had already arrived. The signs of battle were everywhere. Exploded parts of undead were scattered through the tall grass, along with other smoldering corpses. Jenna was talking with a stranger, a striking woman with elven blood holding a flail. Loner was absentmindedly cleaning her Katana of Doom, while Georgi was wandering around calling for Thantor. Darkpoet was still furiously hacking at the corpse of a wyvern, his bloodlust making him oblivious to the fact that the beast was long since dead.

[OOC: I have a hard time imagining anything rejecting Viv's body, demon or otherwise! ]

Darkpoet, ignored the demon to calm himself down. He could still hear it, in the back ground. Darkpoet, headed to the keep, he needed to clean of the blood. The smell of the blood, is what keeps the demon going. As he got to the keep, Darkpoet took his clothes off and threw them into the fire. Grabbing a towel, he headed for the tub. As he sat in the tub, he tried to scrub the tatoo off. He then, leaned back and closed his eyes.

As Darkpoet stumped off back toward the keep, Gwalchmai called after him, "Have some cheese! It'll make you feel better!"

Darkpoet showed Gwally, that Gwally was number one. By showing him his middle finger.

(OOC@Gwally I hear stilton is renowned for its demon-repelling qualities... )

T’lainya saw Darkpoet storming off to the keep and shook her head with exasperation. She turned to the others and studied them carefully. “I don’t mean to overstep my boundaries, but I think we need to follow him. He shouldn’t be running off on his own right now.” She sighed and took a deep breath. “If I’m not being presumptuous, I think we all need to get indoors somewhere before another attack.” T’lainya looked at the others somewhat nervously, waiting for a response.

Georgi nodded at T'lainya. "No, you're absolutely right. Please, come inside. We're not going to help Darkpoet... or Thantor... by standing around out here." She led the way back to the keep.

Darkpoet fell asleep, with a towel over his face.

T’lainya smiled gratefully at Georgi and followed the others into the keep, so deep in thought she barely noticed her surroundings. She realized the demon possessing Darkpoet was powerful. She also guessed from previous experience with the drow, that removing it was going to be very difficult. She was going to need the true name of this monster, and she knew that wasn’t going to come easily. She was also going to stress to Darkpoet the importance of not tearing off alone.

[OOC: @Georgi: Yes, stilton and a really nice port will get rid of most any demon. I just hope that DP's head doesn't start spinning around and he keeps the projectile vomiting to a minimum! ]